Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Corn Pudding

This recipe dates back to the early colonial American days. Corn pudding is a traditional southern Thanksgiving holiday side dish. This recipe has been handed down in the southern side of my family since the late 1500's. Thats right! My family has been in America since 1586 as appointees to a king we despised. Anyway, old world cooking meets the new world was the unavoidable theme of the colonial age in culinary history. Corn and simple English custard pudding with no sugar is the flavor of this recipe. Sweet corn is required to make this dish. After tasting, you would swear that there was sugar in this recipe. The simple custard amplifies the sweetness of corn! Recipe: Saute a little bit of finely chopped onion in a little bit of unsalted butter in a sauce pot over medium heat. When the onions turn clear add a large amount of sweet corn kernels. (Whatever size casserole dish you use, the corn should take up 2/3's of the volume of the dish.) Stir and just gently sweat the corn. Mix a one to one ratio of cream and eggs with a whisk in a mixing bowl. Add a splash of milk. Add sea salt, just a pinch of white pepper and a couple pinches of nutmeg. Remove the pan with the corn from the heat and pour the custard mix into the corn. Stir the mixture. Lightly brush a casserole dish with unsalted butter. Pour the corn custard mixture into the casserole dish. Bake in a 350 degree oven till the surface of the custard lightly caramelizes. (About 30 to 45 minutes depending on the size dish you bake it with.) Set the casserole dish and custard on a serving platter. Enjoy this great recipe from an age before America became a nation. The sweet corn flavor is thoroughly infused with the custard. Custard was a yankee term in later years. Southerners called this dish "pudding" just like the English do. This is a very simple recipe and such a tasty one! Delicious! ... Shawna